The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo of Lanzarote are launching, within the framework of the Control and Eradication Plan of Diocalandra frumenti in the palm trees of Lanzarote, a round of meetings with the island's town councils, holding a first meeting with the municipality of Haría, held this week.
As explained by the regional councilor, Mariano H. Zapata, "the objective of these meetings is to present the work carried out in each municipality, exchange information and plan new actions, in order to improve coordination between the project and each of the towns on the island of Lanzarote, seriously affected by this plague."
These technical meetings, in which the technicians of the Ministry, the Cabildo, and GMR Canarias participate, as the company in charge of executing the works, as well as municipal officials, "are very useful for sharing the specific works to be developed in each municipality and for better defining the needs or proposals for training actions for the agents involved within the municipality."
"From the Government of the Canary Islands we are working together with the Cabildo to guarantee the health of the island's palm trees and this coordinated work and the good results obtained are proof of this," stressed Zapata, who recalled that last February an informative leaflet was presented "available to professionals and the general public with new information to learn how to develop the care of these palm trees."
For his part, the Minister of the Environment of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Samuel Martín, stressed that "from the Cabildo of Lanzarote we assume with total responsibility the fight against Diocalandra frumenti, a plague that endangers a fundamental symbol of our landscape and cultural identity. These meetings with the town councils will allow us to strengthen inter-institutional coordination, ensuring that the actions are effective and reach every corner of the island."
Martín also highlighted "the government team's commitment to protecting Lanzarote's natural environment, promoting concrete measures and providing the necessary resources to the technical teams in charge of this important work."
Diocalandra frumenti, a plague under strict monitoring
Diocalandra frumenti, located in 1988 in Maspalomas, has been spreading, and its damage is caused by the function that the larvae perform when feeding on the palm tree, perforating galleries in roots, petioles (rachis) of the leaves, inflorescences and fruits and even in the stipe or trunk.
Through the Palmeras Lanzarote initiative, which has 12 workers in service, between 2023 and 2024 more than 83,000 palm trees have been inspected and counted and nearly 3,200 specimens have received endotherapy treatment, a type of phytosanitary treatment. Only those specimens that due to their morphological characteristics did not admit the endotherapy technique, have been applied treatment by spraying.
